This movie is still relevant after 18 years. The characters in the movie would face the same problems today. The movie drives home the point of how homelessness can happen and how hard it is to recover or break the cycle of poverty.
Not only does this movie show how someone can fall into homelessness and poverty and how that devastates a family, it actually inspired someone to DO something about homelessness.
An Ursuline sister, Margaret Scheetz, in Youngstown Ohio, saw the movie and was inspired to start a program for homeless women with children. The program, Beatitude House, provides transitional housing for homeless women while they pursue a full-time education. It also provides counseling, parenting programs, case management, group counseling and budgeting education.
The program started in 1991 with one apartment; it now has 24 apartments in Youngstown and 7 in Warren, Ohio. Beatitude House now includes an education and career preparation program for disadvantaged women, and has added a permanent supportive housing program for disabled homeless women or women who have disabled children. (More information is available at www.beatitudehouseonline.org.)
So, Thank You Mare Winningham, D. Michael Nemec (the writer), and everyone who produced or acted in this movie. Your work has truly changed lives.
Not only does this movie show how someone can fall into homelessness and poverty and how that devastates a family, it actually inspired someone to DO something about homelessness.
An Ursuline sister, Margaret Scheetz, in Youngstown Ohio, saw the movie and was inspired to start a program for homeless women with children. The program, Beatitude House, provides transitional housing for homeless women while they pursue a full-time education. It also provides counseling, parenting programs, case management, group counseling and budgeting education.
The program started in 1991 with one apartment; it now has 24 apartments in Youngstown and 7 in Warren, Ohio. Beatitude House now includes an education and career preparation program for disadvantaged women, and has added a permanent supportive housing program for disabled homeless women or women who have disabled children. (More information is available at www.beatitudehouseonline.org.)
So, Thank You Mare Winningham, D. Michael Nemec (the writer), and everyone who produced or acted in this movie. Your work has truly changed lives.